Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Here is a quick and easy activity you can do with your toddler to show them how household goods are used as you play!

1. Select several objects such as a toothbrush, a spoon, or a cup that your toddler is familiar with and uses on a regular basis.2. Sit on the floor and put the objects in front of you.3. Pick up one object, such as the toothbrush, and pretend to brush your teeth.4, Pick up each object and pretend to use it.5. Ask your toddler to pick up one of the objects and show you how he would use it.6. This is a great game to develop your toddler’s thinking skills and help him imagine other things to do with the same object, such as using a cup to drink from and for pouring.

1. Sing this song with different actions. Always do the actions slowly at first, then speed them up. When children do fast and slow actions, they begin to internalize the concepts.2. Other actions to try are: roll your hands, shake your hands, wave your hands, stamp your feet, and shake your hips.3. Before a child can process language, he can process music. Early music experiences increase and enhance spatial-temporal reasoning and the learning of mathematical concepts.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Brain activity in the left hemisphere language centers can be detected in infants as young as five days. Behavioral experiments have demonstrated that days- or weeks-old infants can distinguish the "melody" of their native language from the pitches and rhythms of other languages. They can assess the number of syllables in a word and perceive a change in speech sounds (such as ba versus ga), even when they hear different speakers.

Here is a game to develop this wiring.

Talking Together1. Infants make lots of sounds. Mimic the sounds that your baby makes. These sounds will later turn into words.2. Take the words such as “ba ba” or “ma ma,” and turn them into sentences. “Ma ma loves you.” “Ba ba says the sheep.”3. The more you repeat the baby’s sounds, the more she will be encouraged to make more sounds.5. This is truly the beginning of a conversation between the two of you.

Connect With Conversation1. Start a conversation with your baby. Say a short sentence like, “It is a beautiful day today.”2. When your baby responds with some babble, stop talking and look into his eyes.3. As your baby talks, respond with a nod of your head or a smile.4. This indicates to your baby that you are listening to and enjoying his sounds.5. Continue with another sentence. Always stop and listen to your baby’s response.6. The number of words an infant hears each day dramatically influences his or her future intelligence, and scholastic achievements.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Neurons for vision begin forming the first few months of life. Activities that stimulate a baby’s sight will insure good visual acuity.

Pretty LightWhen infants look at moving objects, a neuron from his retina makes a connection to another neuron in his visual part of the brain. He is literally wiring his vision.1. Cover a flashlight with colored plastic wrap.2. Hold your baby in your arms and turn on the flashlight.3. Move it back and forth and watch as he follows the light.4. Talk to him as you move the lightPretty lightPretty lightSee the pretty, pretty, light.5. Babies love to do this and they are making important connections in the brain.

Follow the Action1. Babies love to look at faces, especially faces of people they love.2. Try different facial expressions and sounds to develop your baby’s vision and hearing.3. Here are some ideas:Sing a song and use big movements with your mouth.Blink your eyes.Stick out your tongue.Make contortions with your mouth.Make lip sounds.Cough or yawn.

About Me

Jackie Silberg (also known as "Miss Jackie" from her television years) is a highly sought after workshop-seminar leader, motivational speaker, and performer. With degrees in Education and Child Development along with graduate work in Piano and Composition, she can entertain and inform with equal ease.

Jackie has worked with thousands of teachers, parents and children presenting keynote addresses, workshops and seminars and family concerts. She appears throughout the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Germany as a speaker, concert artist and talk show guest including appearances on NPR's "Parent's Journal" and "All Things Considered." Activities from her books appear regularly in parenting and early childhood magazines, college texts and journals.